Archive for March, 2009
The Shamey Jays “Four Of Your Pretty Packages”
Author: Beverly Paterson
read comments (0)Pazz and Jop with The Bad Plus
Author: Anthony Medici
The title of the new The Bad Plus (hereafter TBP) CD on Heads Up, “For All I Care,” is as ambiguous, ambivalent, and inscrutable as the rest of the album. Perhaps the band is telling us that it cares for all types of music and things and people, that its approach is determinedly egalitarian and universal. Or maybe it is telling us, defensively, in advance, and in anticipation of the usual TBP criticism, that it doesn’t much care what we think of the album, that they are going to do what they want, not what we want them to do. I suppose that it is both of these things. They want us to hear them; they’re not terribly interested in hearing us. For example, their blog, DO THE MATH, demonstrates their wide interests in things musical and cultural; however, they long since stopped accepting comments from readers on their posts. It’s a High Modernist conception of the artist as creative and aloof, and perhaps more, creative because they are aloof. No matter, for in “For All I Care,” they have created an album that challenges and connects. Read the rest of this entry »
How often do you hear about Iceland these days? Sure, there are a few news stories every so often about their economy, but overall, not much seems to happen in that little island nation. You could ask someone on the street what they know about Iceland, and they’d probably mention Bjork, Sigur Ros, and something about Vikings. So imagine my surprise when I learned that the first metal album of 2009 to truly blow me away was by an Icelandic band. To be honest, I still don’t know what to make of that. All I know is that Reykjavik-based metal outfit Solstafir is simply one of the most exciting artists to come out of that neck in the woods since…well, since Sigur Ros. Read the rest of this entry »
Social Crutch – Dipsomaniacs
Author: Beverly Paterson
Lady Sovereign and Damien Rice as survival tools
Author: Eliza Varner
This past week was finals for Winter Term. After 9 weeks of pretending I could understand inorganic chemistry (i don’t), it was time to lock myself in a study room, not sleep for 30 hours at a time, and drink 97 cokereward points worth of coke zero. To survive this nightmare of a time, I relied very heavily on a playlist which was a combination of breezy folk and femme fatale, Lady Sovereign and Damien Rice, among other artists. Read the rest of this entry »
ROGER POWELL, EATIN’ AN APPLE, SITTIN’ ON BLUE NOTE RIDGE
Author: Jeff Boule
Blue Note Ridge is Roger Powell’s fourth solo album. The largest difference between this album and the three preceding ones is that these previous albums were significantly synthesizer-based. As his former band–mate, Todd Rundgren used to say, “you were born, to synthesize”, and this new CD on Fossil Poets Records is largely based on piano. Plain old acoustic piano with maybe a synth note here and there.
B.B. King’s Latest–Do Yourself a Favor
Author: John Moses
There must be something about the blues that keeps its disciples young. B.B. King turned 83 last September (16th). I saw him last June at the Chicago Blues Festival, when he headlined the festival on a rainy Sunday night. We were getting soaked, but the crowd kept growing, right up until show time. He walked onto stage very slowly and he performed sitting, as he has for a few years. Old age might make walking difficult, but it hasn’t silenced his booming blues growl and it sure hasn’t weakened his guitar skills. Read the rest of this entry »
Right Place, Wrong Time: A Jazz Messenger Comes to D.C.
Author: Anthony Medici
The liner notes to his recent CD, “Sketch,” put it bluntly: “David Schnitter is the jazz world’s forgotten messenger, a marvelous musician who just happened to be in the right place before the right time.” Except I would amend that statement to read: “…in the right place after the right time.” For Schnitter was not just a “jazz messenger,” but a “Jazz Messenger,” one of the members of Art Blakey’s Jazz Messengers, a graduate of Blakey’s famed College of Hard Bop, that saw such other alumni as Lee Morgan, Wayne Shorter, Freddie Hubbard, Jymie Merritt, Cedar Walton, Curtis Fuller, and Bobbie Timmons. I went to Twins Jazz last night to hear Schnitter and to see if the jazz message was still being delivered. Read the rest of this entry »
A LIVING TRAGEDY… THE WORLD’S GREATEST DRUMMER RETIRES FROM PLAYING LIVE
Author: Jeff Boule
With each day, more and more disparaging news comes across our collective desk. This could have been titled The Death Of Progressive Part Two. The world’s premiere drummer, Bill Bruford, announced on his website his retirement from public performance effective the first of this year. Before you all get bent out of shape about who the best drummer in the world is, remember, at the top of this post it SHOULD say “opinion” or “editorial”. Remember, you don’t have to agree with my opinion. But let’s examine what, in my opinion, makes Bruford the best.
Pop! Straight Out of Scandinavia
Author: Adrienne Brown
When it comes to our choices of music, we all have guilty pleasures. During my formative years, I was a huge New Kids on the Block fan. I tortured my parents to purchase every poster, cassette tape (yes, it was that long ago), and piece of merchandise I could get my hands on. My love of NKOTB even helped me to become elected to my intermediate school student council. However, as time moved on, so did my taste in music. By the time high school arrived, I had abandoned pop music in exchange for alternative bands like Nirvana and Depeche Mode.
Records from my shelf – Brian Auger’s Oblivion Express
Author: Doctor B
Brian Auger’s Oblivion Express
Closer To It
Original vinyl: RCA APL1-0140
CD Reissue: Fuel 2000 Records
I pulled this record, which I’d found years ago in a bargain bin, off my shelves just the other day and slapped in onto my garage-sale-bought Harman-Kardon turntable. Damn, but I’d forgotten just how flat-out funky this album is! Read the rest of this entry »
First Impression & First Aid Kit
Author: HJ Mills
Greetings to my fellow admirers of audio rivers. My name’s HJ. I’ve been writing my own music blog semi-frequently since September ‘08. It started as a class assignment, then grew into one of my favorite things. Music is my passion, and I’m here to share and celebrate my passion with you. I always love metaphors, a ripe mango, tea with steam dancing on the top, scarves that are lovely, silver rings, scripture, and the gritty smell of camp fires. Read the rest of this entry »
“You Got Yours! East Bay Garage 1965-1967″
Author: Beverly Paterson
Dance of the Rain Gods: Crispell and Hemingway in Baltimore
Author: Anthony Medici
The rain has played a soggy ostinato to my recent jazz adventuring. A cold, hard rain fell as I set forth for Baltimore Saturday to catch the Marilyn Crispell/Gerry Hemingway duo performance at An Die Musik. The Beltway was choked with traffic and fender benders littered the highway shoulders. “Surely,” my Inner Couch Potato protested, “it would be better to stay home, slumber on the couch, listen to a record.” But I have learned that regret is a stronger motivator than reluctance, and I would have regretted missing this performance by these two Guggenheim Fellows and alumni of Anthony Braxton’s famed Quartet. Read the rest of this entry »
Well here is your intrepid blogger, deep inside enemy territory. I mean crazy deep; I can count at least three laser-sight dots on my flak vest. Firstly, I am sure I have bad-mouthed this venue, as it likes to jerk its customers around. If I haven’t maybe I should now. For one show they offer you luxurious accommodation at a particular price, and then for a next show, you pay that same price and get a barstool. CRIPES!! That was a shot close to my ear! Next, I MUST address some recent King Crimson issues (Wetton was the bass player in the`70’s incarnation): If you all think I am spewing sour grapes as I won’t be able to see the 40th Anniversary King Crimson shows alleged to be taking place on the west coast, I refer you to the August 2008 archive where my review of the August 16th Nokia Theatre performance in New York City lie in state for all to examine. If my ramblings got the Brain and the Bald One to reconsider their heinous acts, so be it! I would be open to ghost authoring the Bald One’s book. He once referred to himself as dumb-as-a-shovel… BAIL OUT!!! That was a concussion bomb, about thirty feet away. I need to interject that should I not make it out of this review alive, please scour the wooded areas of Mount Juliet, TN for my remains. Lastly, I am inside the stomping ground of the Birdwoman, the pipeline to the Bald One. If I fart, she tells The Bald One. DUCK!!!!
The Number 547: Why I can’t live without Iron & Wine
Author: Eliza Varner
Iron and Wine is the perfect antidote to stress, especially when you’re simultaneously frantically writing a lab report, trying to find your friend a date for her sorority formal, chugging caffeine by the liter, and/or just living the life of an undergrad at a highly competitive college. Sam Beam’s soothing melodies and beautifully crafted lyrics are like a cup of herbal tea and a long bath– a way to forget your troubles. Read the rest of this entry »
Jimmy Hall, the lead singer for the Mighty Jeremiahs, described their music as, “ZZ Top meets Mountain and goes to church.” It’s not often that you find music that’s as elemental and powerful as The Mighty Jeremiahs’. These guys truly makes a “joyful noise.” It’s raw, passionate and fun. If you like guitar-driven rock and blues, you should enjoy this music, whether you’re more spiritual or more secular. OK, so you might say that gospel music isn’t your thing. I can accept that, but if you don’t give this CD a chance, you’ll miss one of the best “plug-in-your-electric-guitar-to-a- stack-of-amps-and-let-it-wail” records in years. If you crank up the volume on the first cut and leave it there, you just might get closer to God. Read the rest of this entry »
March Madness: Jeers, Cheers and Slam Dunks
Author: Anthony Medici
It’s that time of the year, when professional basketball teams, under the aegis of the NCAA, play out the ritual basketball frenzy known as March Madness. Oh sure, they represent various colleges (64 to be exact), but this is Big Business; perhaps, one of the few big businesses still making a go of it in our recession-racked economy. There will be the usual cheers, jeers and slam dunks to enliven one’s viewing. We have a few of our own. Read the rest of this entry »
From Princeton to Virginia Woolf
Author: Adrienne Brown
When driving on the crowded roads of Middlesex County, I often seek the solace of music that allow me to reflect on simpler times. Growing up on the Jersey Shore, some of my best memories occurred during spring visits to the seashore. This winsome feeling is encapsulated in the carefree sounds of the indie pop trio Princeton. Hailing from Los Angeles, Princeton is an aural fix for the winter blahs. Read the rest of this entry »
Princeton Record Exchange in GQ!
Author: jon
OK…so I’m going to take a minute for unabashed self-promotion. GQ magazine has listed Princeton Record Exchange as one of their 20 favorite record stores. In fact, we topped the list! (all right, so the list wasn’t numbered, we’re still at the top, LOL). We are also featured in their online slide show here: http://men.style.com/gq/features/landing?id=content_8277